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Every week, Cee has a Fun Foto Challenge, and this time, the theme is ‘Reflections and Shadows’, so here are a few I was able to find.

On our visit to Belize in January, we saw some interesting reflections and shadows on our day trip to the Mayan ruins at Lamanai. The only way to get to this site is by river, and this pic not only has reflections, but also a well camouflaged crocodile.

Here’s a much prettier reflection of water lilies on the New River

Now for the shadows. Our long trek through the jungle was very shady and full of shadows.

In the trees were the shadowy figures of Howler monkeys.

I also found couple of hammock pics for the theme. The first one in some welcome shade in Belize,

and this one taken at our villa at Round Hill, Jamaica. Can you think of a more pleasant way to babysit a young grandson?

I hoe you’ve enjoyed my reflections and shadows. To see more entries, just click on Cee’s badge.

This week’s challenge, Billboards and Road Advertisements, is quite a fun one. I have lots of pics of signs, although very few which would qualify as billboards.

I did spot these in London, and I thought this McDonalds one was quite good.

I might have hoped that this one was referring to me, until I saw the tall, blonde and gorgeous potato chips. 😦

This road sign in San Pedro looked quite promising.

That was until we saw the restaurant. 😦

If you happen to be looking for a majestic hotel in Bolivia, you’ve come to the right place. It looks like they have electricity. 🙂

New York City has billboards plastered all over the place,

and Times Square must be the ultimate billboard paradise, commanding the highest prices in the world for advertising there. Last year, Dunkin’ Donuts paid $3.6 million for one digital sign there.

I think the most iconic and well known billboard has to be the Hollywood sign, which was designed by an Englishman and constructed in 1923. It was originally meant to only last for 18 months until the lots for a new real estate development called ‘Hollywoodland’, were all sold. It’s undergone many changes and improvements over the years, and today, has its own trust fund and a ton of security which involves razor wire, infrared technology, 24 hour monitoring, motion sensors, alarms and helicopter patrols.

This week, Ailsa’s Travel Theme is ‘Stones’, so I decided to show you a few of the impressive stones I saw in England during my August visit.

I’m pretty sure that the best known collection of stones in England, is Stonehenge in the county of Wiltshire. It is for many people, the one place that represents Britain’s prehistory. This massive stone circle stands on Salisbury Plain, and its lintel-topped Sarsen stones are thought to be over 5,000 years old. The tallest of these stones is 22 feet high, with another 8 feet lying underground. It was constructed over several hundred years, with stones being put up, taken down and moved around, until it finally became the shape that we see today. Its meaning and purpose are a source of great fascination, and this World Heritage site attracts over 900,000 visitors a year. It doesn’t look so big here, but just look at the midget people around it.

Another mammoth stone on the same site, is this heel-stone, which weighs 35 tons. The nearest source for these stones is the Marlborough Downs which is about 30 kms away. Some of the biggest ones weigh up to 45 tons, and it has been surmised that they were probably transported on sledges, but it’s still mind-boggling to me to imagine the manpower required to shift and then erect these humongous lumps of stone. Well. anything the ancient Egyptians could do, I guess the Brits had already done. 🙂

As we entered Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, we saw this stone at the side of the road next to Colliford Lake. It’s probably an ancient way-marker, or boundary stone.

Another interesting collection of stones is the Neolithic Trethevy Quoit, in the middle of a field next to a small housing estate on the moor. It’s made up of large standing stones which support a heavy capstone. These quoits, as they are called in Cornwall, are thought to be ancient burial mounds.

You can get more of an idea of its size when you compare it to the houses nearby.

Bodmin Moor, is literally littered with stones, and The Hurlers, a unique Bronze Age monument, consists of a set of three standing stone circles. Local legend has it that some of the local men were on the Sabbath, playing a Cornish ball game known as hurling, and were turned into stone as a divine punishment, I suppose much the same as Lot’s wife in the Bible was turned into a pillar of salt. I looked to see if there was a stone ball lying around to confirm this legend, but couldn’t find one. We did notice that this is a favourite place for local dog walkers, so you really have to watch your step. 🙂

Here is part of an abandoned tin mine, also built of stone, and in the foreground are more of these ancient stones.

Everywhere we went, we saw beautiful stone structures, and even though now in ruins, they’re still really impressive.

The cliff path down to Wheal Cotes tin mine, which lies between Porthtowan and St Agnes, is supported with many stones tightly packed together.

Here is some stone detail of the mine chimney,

and here is the shaft pump-house, which is preserved and maintained in wonderful condition, by the National Trust.

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing some of the old stones which I saw in England. If you want to get even more stoned, just visit Ailsa’s post.

I have many, as I’m sure you all do, but here are just a few from my travels. I hope you enjoy these.

Looking across Table Bay, from the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, the sky seems to blend seamlessly with the Atlantic Ocean.

This is the road to Sun City, the luxury casino and resort which is about two hours’ drive from Johannesburg, in the North West Province of South Africa.

Hopping across to Cairns, Australia, here is a horizon view from the Kuranda Skyrail rainforest cableway.

We were on a round-the-world trip, so also got to gaze across the sparkling blue waters of Lake Titicaca from the top of Sun Island in Bolivia.

Now for something completely different, here’s a rather chilly spring horizon looking across the hot springs and geysers in Yellowstone Park.

To warm you up just a little, is a British summer horizon which I snapped through the car window, as we travelled through Cornwall in August this year. British summers aren’t what they used to be, but at least we had some blue sky,

which is more than can be said for the gloomy horizon, as we sailed into Rotterdam towards the end of our Rhine cruise later that month.

“Blue colour is everlastingly appointed by the Deity to be a source of delight”~ John Ruskin

The color of ocean and sky, blue is perceived as a constant in our lives. I think if I had to choose just one favourite colour, it would have to be blue. I’ve seen so many beautiful shades of blue, and they never fail to lift my spirits.

There’s the cool refreshing aqua of the ocean.

The celestial blue of the sky on a clear day.

The welcoming shade of blue umbrellas on the white sandy beach.

The indigo blue of the sky peeping through fluffy clouds.

The gorgeous blues of the ocean seen from above the clouds.

The always sparkling blue of our swimming pool here in Florida,

and not forgetting the beautiful blues of the sea and sky back home in South Africa.

“If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.” ~ Eleanora Duse

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week, is ‘Wheels’. I’ve had many sets of wheels in my life, and I would really love to show you my first car, a sunshine yellow Triumph Spitfire, and also my two dream cars, a silver and then a red Jaguar E-Type. Can you believe that I never thought to take any pics of these beauties? I could kick myself! I guess I was too busy enjoying driving them, to think about taking photos.

Anyway, that’s water under the bridge, and as I can’t show you those, here are a few wheel pics that I do have. This pic of a waterwheel driven stamp mill was taken at the 18th century, Poldark Tin Mine in Helston, Cornwall. This is believed to be one of the oldest complete mining works in Great Britain. The mine was worked using horses and water wheels to power all the machinery and to pump water from it.

Here is one of the massive gear wheels.

I saw these wheels yesterday outside our local pharmacy. These huge pick-ups with raised suspension, always make me smile, as the wheels look much too small for the size of the truck.

Here are the wheels that over sixty percent of South Africans rely on for their everyday commute. You really take you life into your hands when travelling in one of these mini-bus taxis. The drivers are well-known for their disregard for the road rules and their proclivity for dangerously overloading their vehicles with passengers.

Here outside a 5 star hotel in my home town, are the wheels which transport our national rugby team, ‘The Springboks’.

A few metres away on our beach promenade is a wheel with a very flat tire. Not much good in an emergency.

I can’t do a wheel challenge without showing you one of our icicle-covered wheels, when we toured Yellowstone. We’d expected that by May, spring would have sprung, but were sorely disappointed. The occasional blizzard and icy road conditions did make for some interesting driving though.

“Obsession is when something will not leave your mind.” ~ Eric Clapton

This one is for my dear blog friend, Gunta. Since I first posted this pic in January this year, it would appear that she hasn’t been able to erase the image from her brain, as she has mentioned it on several occasions in her comments, and I threatened to re-post it if the opportunity ever arose, so here you are, Gunta. I hope you don’t have nightmares tonight. 🙂

I managed to get a shot of this blingy manicure, when on a flight from Lamanai to San Pedro. I engaged the Belizean lady in conversation, with the express intention of blogging her nails. She proudly informed me that the safety chains were necessary because her ‘pinky’ nails were crafted from solid gold.

To see more entries for Ese’s Shoot and Quote Challenge this week, just click here.

This week, Cee has asked us for some pics showing sand and dirt. Here are a few that I’ve found to show you.

This one was taken in Morocco, where there was quite a lot of sand and dirt underfoot. These two guys obviously didn’t want to get their feet dirty.

I think this is a rather funny pic of me in Peru. It looks like a standoff between me and the local women. They took this opportunity to try to sell their wares, and were actually quite formidable, not taking no for an answer.

There was beautiful white sand in San Pedro, and also lots of bicycles.

A sand sculpture still under construction on my beach in Umhlanga Rocks, with an important hastily written message for passers-by.

It’s quite strange how people get the urge to dig when they get to the beach. I bet he’s not nearly as keen in the garden at home. 🙂

These white lions are well camouflaged against the sand and dirt of the South African Game Park.

This is my favourite way to see the sunrise, as a beautiful backdrop to the sand and the sea.

To see more entries for this week’s Fun Foto Challenge, just click Cee’s badge.